Anyone But Romney: 12 Reasons I Won't Vote for Mitt

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."

John Quincy Adams

     I've been on a bit of a hiatus...finals are over, so I'm back and mad as hell. While I don't believe that Paul has officially thrown in the towel, I have a really hard time with Rand's endorsement of Romney. This is an excerpt from his appearance on Hannity a couple of days ago:

“My first choice had always been my father,” Paul told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday. “I campaigned for him when I was 11 years old. He's still my first pick. But now that the nominating process is over, tonight I'm happy to announce that I'm going to be supporting Gov. Mitt Romney."

L.A. Times 

     Ugh. There's certainly a lot of conjecture as to what is really going on: are the Paul's selling out for a VP spot for Rand? Are they setting him up for a run in 2013? Even if Rand gains the VP spot, I WILL NOT be voting for Romney. Here are a few reasons why:

1. He's a draft dodger.  During the Vietnam war, rather than serve, Romney was afforded missionary status from the Mormon church to avoid going to war. He received not one but FOUR draft deferments as a "minister of religion". He repeatedly says that he is committed to our country's military, but he used his religion to hide from the reality of war in the 1960's. While I also believe that Vietnam was another useless foreign war that we shouldn't have been involved in, Romney's actions are a slap in the face to all of the veterans and soldiers currently serving in our military. How can we trust someone who is beating the war drums for Iran but was too much of a coward to serve his country when he was called? It seems to me that he's okay with sending our husbands and children to die in Iran, but it wasn't important enough to him to serve when he was needed. Hypocrisy at its finest, folks. 


2. His pro-life stance is completely false.  Romney is running on a pro-life platform and he tries to use it as an advantage to gain Republican votes. However, he created RomneyCare, which openly funds abortion. He created an "independent board" that allowed Planned Parenthood to charge only a $50 co-pay for abortions, using taxpayer funds to make it reality. He was pro-choice in 1994. Pro-life in 2001. Pro-choice 2002, pro-life in 2004. Pro-choice in 2005, pro-life in 2006...well, you get the idea. At the Massachusetts GOP convention in 2002, Romney confirmed, "I will respect and fully protect a woman's right to choose. That right is a deeply personal one." While I believe that abortion laws make the practice safer, I still do not agree with abortion. However, I stick to my beliefs. Romney can't make up his mind. There's a big difference in not being able to make up your mind about what tie you want to wear and whether it's okay to kill a baby. 

 (Ben Garrison)

3. Mitt and Ann are completely out of touch with the American people. Ann told a quaint little story to Martha McCallum back in April on Fox. It was in response to Hilary Rosen's comment that "Ann has never worked a day in her life." Ann decided that she was going to let the American people know that she "knows what it's like to struggle," and that she "doesn't consider (myself) wealthy." Are you kidding? The woman owns horses that cost into seven figures. She and Mitt lived off their stock portfolio in college, which amounted to about the equivalent of almost $400,000 in today's currency. The stock portfolio came down from Mitt's father. They didn't work, and their families put them through college. Now, there's nothing wrong with allowing your family to pay for college. Nor is there anything wrong with being wealthy. However, by their own admission that they didn't work in those five years and lived off stock, the Romneys prove that they have absolutely no idea what the average American goes through on a daily basis. They ate tuna fish and pasta...wow, they were slumming it. I have 40k in student loan debt and don't even have the degree yet to show for it. My family lives on $1000 a month. Tell me how you can relate to my struggle, Ann and Mitt. 

4. Romney is a corporate whore.  According to his campaign website, Romney wants to cut corporate taxes from 35% to 25% under the guise of making businesses competitive in a global economy. Yet, he wants to keep the personal tax rates the same as they are now. So, while middle class American are paying outrageous personal taxes, corporations are making money off of those same people.  Romney also believes that corporations should still be considered "a person" so that they can make contributions to, oh I don't know, Mitt Romney? Just look at his largest campaign contributors: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch. Some of these companies were on the bailout list, yet they have hundreds of thousands to commit to political contributions? I smell something nasty here. Here's a good list of the bailouts: http://projects.propublica.org/bailout/list 

(we know awesome)

5.His job creation record sucks. A campaign ad claimed that Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, had the best job creation record in a decade. Yet Massachusetts ranked 47th out of 50 in job creation over the entire time that Romney was governor. Fact check 

 6.He claims to be pro-2nd Amendment, but has backed gun control legislation. In 1994, Romney backed the Brady law (waiting period) and a partial assault weapon ban. Both of these were strongly opposed by the NRA. In 2002, he reaffirmed his stance when running for governor, stating that he would "not chip away at the Commonwealth's tough gun laws." As governor, he made Massachusetts the first state to completely ban assault weapons. He claimed to be a life-long hunter, but has never owned a hunting license. He admitted that his "lifelong hunting" consisted of shooting at some birds and other small critters when he was seventeen. And then, in 2006, he joined the NRA. But wait, there's more. In 2007, when he decided to run for president, Romney claimed that he didn't support the Brady bill. Of the assault weapon ban, his original stance was that "These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people." Yet, at the same Meet the Press appearance, Romney claimed that he only signed the assault weapon ban to facilitate relaxation of gun licensing laws. I don't know what planet Romney lives on, but on this one, that's called a contradiction. 

7. He's a warmonger.  Romney opposes peace-talks with the Taliban. He believes that we should "defeat the Taliban, not negotiate with them." However, he supports bringing the troops home from Afghanistan. How does that work? He believes that we should enforce more sanctions on Iran and that we should take military action against them. Why is it so hard for the neo-conservatives and moderates to understand that the reason these people hate us is because we won't leave them alone? He also believes that we made "the right decision" to go into Iraq, while the rest of the world acknowledges that there were no weapons of mass destruction. He supports the failed neo-con "American Century" policies, he wants to continue nation-building, and he has pretty much said that he would support another cold war with Russia. He is "concerned about China" and wants to fund opposition groups in Syria. He didn't have the cojones to go to Vietnam, but he'll sit back and watch us send troops all over the world in wars that cost us money we don't have and lives that shouldn't be lost. I wonder how much of the oil money he'll get when we "quell" Iran. 

 Fiscal Times

8. He supported a "path to citizenship" for illegal immigrants in 2006, and now, he says he doesn't? “[I] think I’m best off to describe my own positions. And my positions, I think I’ve just described for you – secure the border, employment verification and no special pathway to citizenship. I feel that’s the course we ought to take.” (CNN’s “The Situation Room", 2007) Yet, at private fundraiser in Florida, MSNBC reported that Romney said the GOP must offer its own policies to woo Hispanics, including a "Republican DREAM Act," referring to the legislative proposal favored by Democrats that would offer illegal immigrants a limited path to citizenship, to give Hispanic voters a real choice between parties. So, which is it? This flip-flop is pretty clear. Looks to me like he is okay with immigration when he needs the Hispanic vote. 

9. He isolates Paul supporters. Romney and his thugs have created chaos at state conventions and primaries, broken parliamentary and state GOP rules, and have even broken bones in their effort to "keep order" because of those "crazy Paul supporters." Guess what? Romney needs those supporters going into Tampa, because those delegate numbers are not sewn up yet, even though the national media leads people to believe that they are. Delegate counts are projections, not hard numbers. If Romney wants the nomination, he should stop alienating Paul supporters and try to bring them over to his side. However, he won't do that with voter fraud and strong arm tactics, which has been his method so far. 

10. Romney does not respect or understand our Constitution. Romney has NO IDEA about how to govern the United States. He doesn't understand the limitations of power, especially in the executive branch. For example, he claims that abortion is a state issue, but he would sign a federal bill banning abortion if it came across his desk. So...one could assume that Romney respects the Constitution when it fits his narrow view. Otherwise, it's just a piece of paper. In several debates, Romney has deferred to Ron Paul when asked questions about the Constitution, plainly stating that he didn't know the Constitution, even though he has a law degree. Six members of Romney's own family refuse to support him because he is clueless when it comes to the Constitution. Not very reassuring when your own family thinks you're an idiot. 

 (Scott Walker)

11. His Morman faith is a bigger deal than he would like you to believe. Romney swears that he won't allow his faith to guide his decisions while in office. I really don't believe that for a second. Most people of faith that I know concede that every action in their lives is guided by their faith, their morals, and their principles. The LDS church believes that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were divinely inspired. (Never mind that most of the founding fathers were deists.) Evangelicals may vote for him, but only to block Obama. My biggest issue with Mormonism is male authoritarianism and the fact that the LDS "baptizes" dead people into their faith. Forcing religion onto another, even deceased, is against the principles of the Constitution and violates the rights that we have to practice our own faith (or lack of) without interference by others. Mormons and Baptists are very divided, because the Mormon faith claims that God was a human being, and Baptists are completely at odds with this notion. Finally, some people look at Mormonism as a cult, not a religion. (Personally, I am an atheist and think it's all nonsense.) 

12. Romney is not a conservative.  Flip-flopping aside, the simple fact is that Romney is a RINO. His stances are pretty much identical to Obama's on key issues, including health care, the support of NDAA, gun control, Iran, economic stimulus, the Fed, the Patriot Act, sanctions...the list could go on.  If Romney has any claim to conservatism, it lies in the fact that he takes a moderate stance on most issues and says what his audience wants to hear at the time. He knows when to put on his Republican costume, that's for sure. True Liberty-minded Republicans see through his disguise. However, he may have the rank and file votes simply because people are uninformed. A vote for Romney guarantees a continuation of the last four years under Obama, and as a Republican, I cannot support socialist policies. 

As a Constitutional Conservative, I cannot, in good conscience, support Romney. I will continue to stand with Paul. The fat lady hasn't sung yet.

"If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."
Samuel Adams